Job Description
Position Details
School of Engineering
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149
Grade: 7
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 28th August 2025
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Role Summary
The Operations Manager is a central role to the School of Engineering within the College of Engineering & Physical Sciences (EPS) for the day to day running of the School. The post-holder is responsible for the School’s Professional Services Operations Hub and ensures that administrative support and leadership is delivered in an effective, efficient, responsive and professional manner supporting across the broad spectrum of the School’s activities. The post-holder will support the Head of School, Head of Operations and School Senior Management Team (SMT) on a day-to-day basis to facilitate the strategic direction of the School.
You will set and uphold excellent standards of work and bring the team together to provide the best possible service for the smooth running of the School. You will also support and lead on cross-School strategies, processes and initiatives ensuring that the School’s ambitions are supported by appropriate systems, processes and resources.
The post holder is expected to have knowledge of the significant challenges and opportunities in the Higher Education sector, an understanding of good practice in delivering professional administration and financial support and the ability to balance academic considerations and wider drivers and priorities.
The post holder will report into the School Head of Operations with close links to academic leads and members of the College Operations Team. The post holder will deputise for the Head of Operations.
Main Duties
Strategic
- Support the Head of School and Head of Operations in preparing and developing the School's strategic plan and monitoring progress towards aims and objectives (e.g. Compact process, College 5-year plans, expenditure projections and options appraisals).
- Working with the Head of School and Head of Operations in identifying School strategic priorities and how they map to College and University strategic priorities.
- Work with the School Heads of Operations/Operations Managers implementing best practice and consistency of approach across all administrative areas, identifying areas requiring development and improvement.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with Heads of Services & key College Business Partners (Infrastructure and Facilities, Education Services and Support, Human Resources, Finance, IT, Marketing and Communications, and Planning).
Leadership
- Provide effective leadership and management of the School’s Professional Services Operations Hub that supports academic delivery, reviewing workloads, resources and training needs.
- Undertaking Performance and Development Reviews (PDRs), identifying sickness patterns and leading on performance management issues.
- Take responsibility for the motivation, management and flexibility of staff working within the team, instilling confidence in the requirements and importance of relevant functions to ensure that teams work together to effectively deliver on plans and projects.
- To establish effective network contacts with similar roles across other Schools, Colleges and external to University of Birmingham to coordinate action, minimise duplication and share good practice.
- Work with professional services and academic colleagues to support the delivery of change projects across the College, planning and ensuring delivery within set timescales.
Personnel and Staff Management
- Work with the College HR Business Partner and team, and the University HR team, to ensure effective HR management across the School including:
- Implementing Quality Assurance processes for Recruitment and Selection of all School staff;
- Supporting the Head of School, Head of Operations and other senior staff with the recruitment processes for staff within the School;
- Supporting the development of business cases for submission to College Post Approval Group (CPAG);
- Effectively administering the processes associated with the management, renewal and termination of fixed term and honorary contracts.
- Coach and encourage staff in a supportive environment, demonstrating willingness to listen, engage and support.
- Contribute to and deliver training and other forms of support to Operations staff within the School or College as required.
- Promote and encourage professional development opportunities for the staff you manage, through the Professional Development Review process and the Birmingham Professional initiative, developing and enhancing necessary skillsets.
- Implement effective procedures and processes with regard to the Annual Review/PDRs and Senior Promotions.
- Co-ordinate the induction process for all new staff to the School regularly reviewing procedures and providing feedback on induction to the Head of Operations.
- Support the co-ordination of the timely production of management information, reports and returns for the School Workload Allocation Model (WAM).
- Support the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work including collating management information and supporting local/College based activities. Assisting with and contributing to School Action Plans and co-ordinating information for future School submissions (e.g. Athena Swan).
- Co-ordinate the management of compliance with mandatory training for academic and professional services staff within the School.
- Support the Director and Head of Operations in implementing change management strategies as required.
Financial Management
- Support the Head of School in the co-ordination of the annual budgeting and forecasting review process.
- Monitor expenditure across the School's research awards/School core budgets and taking corrective action where necessary and delivering strategies to achieve efficiencies.
- Assist the Finance Business Partner with financial year end.
- Manage the process of monitoring and approval of electronic expense claims across the School.
- Ensure there is education of and adherence to appropriate financial legislation across the School.
Communications & Events
- Support the development and management of internal communications in the School (via the Ops Hub Canvas page, Intranet)
- Draft and communicate regular updates to School staff as directed by the Head of School.
- Support the updating of School webpages to ensure accurate information is displayed and key messages are highlighted.
- Ensure appropriate support from the Operations Hub for key School-level events, as directed by the Head of School and Head of Operations.
Governance
- Support the delivery of service standards and local policies and procedures for the efficient operation of the School. With the Heads of Operations, Operations Managers and the Director of Operations, identify collaborative opportunities to ensure consistency / continuity of policies outlining additional local requirements across all Schools.
- Responsible for the oversight of the School’s governance structure (e.g. committees) liaising with committee secretaries to ensure all necessary documentation is kept up-to-date and available for scrutiny.
- Ensure appropriate support is in place for all School-level committees and Senior Management team.
- Ensure regulatory compliance across the School including DPA and Information Security.
- Provide timely and accurate reporting of management information as requested by College/University.
Additional
- Work closely with the School Buildings Coordinator to ensure effective use of School space, specifically in relation to office accommodation.
- Work with School Technical Managers and the Head of Operations on any large-scale projects which involve changes to space.
- Liaise with the School Buildings Coordinator on day-to-day operational activity in relation to the School’s estate, providing advice, support and referring to the Head of School and Head of Operations where necessary.
- Under the direction of the Head of Operations, the Operations Manager will also from time-to-time support projects spanning the breadth of the School’s activity which originate from the School’s Senior Management Team.
- Undertake additional duties or deputise on behalf of the Head of Operations.
- Any other duties appropriate to the grade of the role as required by the Head of School and Head of Operations.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
- First degree or equivalent along with professional training or demonstrable experience normally associated with this level of qualification
- Significant administrative experience.
- Demonstrable people and financial management experience including setting and monitoring spend against budgets.
- Experience of sourcing information, particularly through electronic sources, to inform and support reporting for strategic planning and/or business cases.
- Knowledge and understanding of UK HE funding mechanisms, strategies and priorities.
- Excellent report writing skills - ability to write clear and concise formal reports and documents, maintaining high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
- Strong negotiating and persuasion skills.
- Excellent analytical skills, with the ability to communicate complex policy matters.
- Excellent IT skills (Excel/Word/PowerPoint /Databases etc.) with the ability and willingness to learn new systems.
- Excellent communication skills - ability to communicate with a wide range of people at all levels, maintaining high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
- Ability to demonstrate tact and diplomacy, and the ability to deal discreetly with confidential and sensitive matters.
- Excellent organisational and time-management skills with a demonstrated ability to plan and organise a large workload to meet both internal and external deadlines - working on a variety of complex issues simultaneously.
- The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.
- Excellent inter-personal skills; ability to develop effective working relationships with all levels of staff and external contacts.
- Developed leadership skills, with the ability to instil confidence in others.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Ability to work under pressure and maintain a high degree of accuracy.
- Ability to absorb and deploy new information quickly and accurately.
- Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
Planning and Organising
The post holder is required to plan future projects and initiatives in working closely with the Head of School and other key academic and operational leads in prioritising work against strategic objectives, typically these can be up to 12 months in advance.
The post holder needs to have a sound understanding of HEI provision, the UK research environment and specific research and educational priorities of the School/College.
Problem Solving and decision making
without reference to others:
- Operational and strategic management of School Professional Services staff (e.g. if restructuring roles to maximise efficiency);
- Operational management of administrative processes and procedures;
- Prioritising tasks to ensure information is received or sent within appropriate timeframes.
after consulting others:
- Marketing and recruitment activities – would consult with academics and Business Partners;
- Research or Educational strategy matters: consult with Head of School and other academic leads and Director of Education/Director of Research & Knowledge Transfer.
or that would be referred to someone else.
Internal and External relationships
- The post is responsible for the delivery of administrative support and providing leadership in the effective delivery of Finance, Research and Human Resource functions within the School.
- The post holder will work collaboratively with Heads of Operations and Operations Managers for other Schools and more broadly with the Head of School, College Head of Service and their teams, other University Partners as appropriate and existing School Research and Administrative staff.
Informal enquiries to Ali Wright, email:
[email protected]View our staff values and behaviours here
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website . 
